Did I Really Care?
by odalys-ortiz
Summary: Before heading to Tau Volantis, Ellie questions whether or not she has feelings for the engineer that saved her life. Pretty much fluff with Isaac/Ellie pairing.


Disclaimer: I do not own any other characters in Dead Space as much as I love the series. They are the property of Visceral Games and EA. Enjoy:D

Did I Really Care

Did she really care about him? Ellie couldn't help but keep asking herself this question as she laid her head against the cold, smooth glass that separated them from the darkness of space. She had found this question coming up the longer she had spent with who she considered a good friend that saved her life. In all rights, Ellie shouldn't have even made it out of the Sprawl alive.

She had lost everyone else, including her boyfriend Kaleb. Her heart was in pieces when he had made the ultimate decision to sacrifice himself to save her. Running into trouble at every turn, she thought that it was over for her until she shot a warning shot at the engineer fighting his way to the elevator that she had tried to reach. She just thought that he was another civilian and tried not to develop any sort of bond with him.

Surprisingly, she had given her name to him after he had given her his. Why did she do that? She had only known him for maybe 30 seconds and she had to try her best to keep him away. Ellie sighed to herself in the empty apartment that she had shared with the very same man while he was off doing a bit of extra work leaving her with time to think. It couldn't have been a coincidence that she had managed to find a reason to contact him with Stross, who through his ramblings, said that he knew Isaac.

On the inside, she was surprised that he had managed to survive this long, but she had felt like there was something different about him from the other people she had known. Even to this day, she couldn't quite point out what it was and they have spent a lot of time together. Thinking back through all the close calls on the Sprawl, she still couldn't believe that Isaac tried to get her to safety without thinking about himself.

She had gotten a feeling that he was going to do something because of what he said before he found her but it was still unbelievable what he did. He wasn't trying to be a hero. People think of him as a fugitive who had cause trouble. Isaac had shown her some of the things that were said about him and she couldn't believe that they were talking about the same guy. Earthgov has been blaming Isaac for what happened on Aegis VII and the Sprawl without knowing the truth about why he did it.

He taught her to look beneath the 'truth' that was spewed to them after disproving that Isabella Cho was the cause of the incident on the Ishimura. As she continued to look towards the stars, she thought about how strong Isaac was. He had a lot to deal with and yet he was still pushing forward with this mission that he never asked for. He had been a victim and chose to fight back against the religion that was responsible for these attacks. Not to say that Isaac didn't have reminders of what happened.

Ellie had caught glimpse of the scars that were etched into his skin, more numerous than the ones that she now carried from her first encounter. She wanted to talk to him, ask him about how he felt about her. Ellie couldn't help, but feel like a burden to him. Isaac had so much on his plate that she figured he couldn't be bothered with something so insignificant.

Then again, if that was the case then why was she still with him? He was subtle about it, but she had noticed that he was adamant keeping her close to him. That's why they got this apartment together. When she had suggested alternatives, he wouldn't hear it. The thought of this made her and her reflection in the glass smile. She stopped being strong on nights like this and just thought about things. When your life is danger, you tend to think a lot. You build a wall because if you don't, you become scared. That's exactly what she was feeling. She was afraid of what she would lose with this quest that she had unexpectedly signed up for.

She pulled her knees closer to her chest to get some comfort, but knew the only way she would get that is if she finally answered her question. Did she really care about him or not? Well it was now or never to tell him as her ears perked up to the sound of the door sliding open. It had been late so Isaac had come to learn that if Ellie was still up, something was bothering her.

He put his bag down on the kitchen counter and made his way over to her. "It's almost time for us to go you know." Isaac took a seat close to her, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "Yeah, this could be our last chance to stop the Necromorphs for good." Ellie went over the possibility in her head, the weight of how important this was. "It'll be the first time either of us will head to Tau Volantis, the isolated ice planet where the answers might be." She finally pulled her thoughts away from the glass and directed them to Isaac.

"This will be the first time that I've ever seen snow. I've lived on colonies my whole life." She saw a small smile develop on his face. "Maybe when things cool down, I can show you. I was born on Earth after all and where I lived, there was snow around the end of the year." She couldn't help but be a bit surprised at the invitation.

At first, she had assumed he was joking until she noticed that the look in his eyes that said otherwise. He had somehow answered the silent question that had haunted her tonight with just one offer. "That would be nice. That also means that you can't go dying on me Isaac."

"I was not planning to." He reached over and took her hand gently in his. The mere mention of the possibility that this mission could failed scared him, but not as much as losing the person who was sitting across from him. If it hadn't been for her, he probably would have lost it ages ago. Did he really care about her? He wanted to protect her to try to ease his guilty conscience over not being able to protect Nicole.

It shouldn't have meant anything to him, but she had slowly seeped under his skin. Maybe it was the feeling of needing each other to survive the outbreak on the station. If that was true, then why did he try so hard to stay strong when he sent her away to safety?

If he didn't care, why did he try his hardest to keep the tears from showing while Ellie pleaded with him over the Vid-log not to send her maneuvered herself from the glass and pushed herself into Isaac's chest, welcoming the warmth. He always looked to make her comfortable and help her in any way he could.

Just letting her do this was something that Ellie cherished more than anything. Whenever he allowed himself to open up and relaxed, she felt a bit closer to him. He just sat there silently as she buried herself deeper into his chest. Isaac grew a small smile and wrapped his arms around her. "Keep your promise, Isaac." She muttered as she dug her nails into his back.

"I will as long as you do the same for me," he said as he planted a small kiss on top of her head. Before Ellie allowed herself to fully sleep, she eased head up to face him. She then allowed him to bend down and slightly brush her lips with his. It wasn't anything serious, at least not yet. For now it would ease their bodies enough to allow them to go to sleep. Silence filled the air between them as they relaxed in each others embrace. There was no doubt between them, their questions had been answered.

A/N: I hope that you guys enjoyed that and let me know how it was. I hope that nothing bad happens it 3 but I'll accept it if it does 'teardrop'


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